Line-indicating mechanism for typographical machines.



. P. H. MGGRATH. LINE INDIGATING MEGHANISM FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED-JAN. 15, 1913 Patented Nov. 24, 1914. ;g,1 l

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narran srrirns Param @ricerca PATRICK H. MCG-BATH, OF W'GLLASTON,MASSACHUSETTS.

LINE-INDICATIG MECHANISM FOR TYPOGR-APHICAL MACIINS.

Specication, of Letters Patent. Ptentgd NGV, 24, 191619 I Applicationfiled Januaryv 15, 1913. Serial No. 742,268.

T0 all w71 0m, it mag/'concern Be it known that I, 'PA'rniCK H. MGGRATH,a citizen of the United States, residlng at llfollaston, in the countyof Norfolk andy State of Massachusetts, have vinvented certain new anduseful Improvements in Line- Indicating Mechanism for TypographicalMachines, of which the following is a specification. y

This invention rela-testo vline-indicating mechanism for typographicalmachines, one

-of the vprima-ry objects of theinvention being to provide simple andeffective means of line can be readily and instantly noted by thecompositor or operatoi` of themachine.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of the presentspecification I have shown' in detail one of the several forms ofvembodiment of the'inv'ention 'which to enable those skilled in the artto practise the same will be fully set forth in the followingdescription. I do not, however, llimit myself to this disclosuregI maydepart there'- fromin several respects within the scope` of vthe,invention defined by my. claim fol- Referring to saiddrawings: Figure 1-is a perspective view of a portion of a typographical machine providedwithlline-indieating mechanism` involving my inventlon.

Fig. 2 is a detail view of the indicator shown.

in Fig. 1. y Like characters refer to like parts in both views, which itwill be observed arev on different scales.

The present mechanism can be built as a permanent part of atypographical machine' or can be easily and quickly attached to any ofthe existing typographical machines. In Fig. 1r of the drawings I have'represented certain of the parts of the well-known Mergenthalertypographical machines., At the present time the operator of -such amachine vhas to raise his eyes to the assembler slide to observe theprogress of the line. One of the important features of my improvements,isv in the factthat he can be. instantly apprised of the Acondition ofthe -line without the necessity of raising his eyes from the keyboard orthe copy which, is an advantageous conslderation partic-l ularly whenthe copy is fine 'reprint or largely composed of initials and figures.Asl is well-known the. strain on the eyes in continually searching forthe placenin the copy, is considerable but by my device, as willhereinafter' appear, I avoid this disadvantage. l Said device comprisesan indicatorl between the space bar and the tray-vor equivalentcopy-carrier, and means operative with 'the assembler-slide, foractuating the indicator, which latter may vary radically f in character,the same applying to the means for 4effecting the operation of thesame.AA It willbe clear that when I state that theV indicator isoperative with the assembler-slide, I do not necessarily in view ofwhich his efforts are further simplified.

'.Referring to Fig. 1, 2 denotes the keyboard, 3 the space bar, 4: thetray, and 5 the assembler-slide of the ldergenthaler typographicalmachine now in every day use; these parts being, therefore,wellknown,"reqiiire no description. 'The tray 4 is used to receive thecopy which is placed directly therein lor which may be supported lavacopy-holder 6. Y

` As already intimated the-kind of indicai tor is not an essentialmatter, althoughthe one shown, designated in a general way by .7, andnow to be described, answers satis- Said indicator factorily lmyrequirements.

.includes an elongated casing 8 disposed in the interval between thespace bar 3 and the tray L1.' Said case may be provided with the tray orcopy carrier; Mounted within said case 8 and preferably near the endsthereof, are sprocket wheels 9 around whichI is. passed. thesprocket-chain 10, one link of which may be provided with aline-indicating pointer or finger 11 which as show'ri'v extends througha longitudinal slot 12 in the case 8 and adapted to traverse agriaduated'scale 13 on the outside of said case,:the

pointer or nger v11 when the assembler- Aslide 5 is at its extremebackyvard or re- 10o `y projections `8 fastened' to the under side oftractcd position, being opposite the zeromark of the scale 18. Thenumbers on said scale, if any be provided, run upward from left to rightthereof. The lines or graduations of the scales can of course,4 bearsymbols other than numbers; as a matter of fact none are reallyrequired.

As already set forth the indicator is operative with theassembler-slide, the motion' rack bar 15, the teeth of which mesh Awithla pinion 16 shown as fastened to the stub shaft 17 supported by a lug orear 18 on the bracket or fixture 19. A flexible shaft is shown at 20,the lower end thereof being connected with -the shaft of the sprocketwheel 9 at. the left. Said flexible shaft 20 is adaptedv for detachableconnection with the short stiftl shaft 17 by a clamp 21, the sections ofwhich areadapted to be tightened around the adjacent end portions ofsaid twov shafts, by the screw 22 having an operating lever Vor handle23. IVhen this handle`23 is turned in one direction, the clamp 21 willbe disengaged from the shaft 17w'hile when it is turned in the oppositedirection the opposite effect will occur, so that the two shafts 17 and2O can be opera! tively connected together,vthe clamp 21 acting as aconvenient form of coupling for this purpose,

assembler-slide 5 moves, the sprocket-chain 10 through the intermediateparts will be operated, tov move the pointer or finger 11 forwardprbackward along thefscale 13, the particular motion depending upon the`direction of movement of the assembler.-v

yslide.'4 Just before the make-up of a line is commenced theassembler-slide will be in its extreme retracted position, the pointerllat lthis time being opposite the 'zero or initial marken the scalel. Inthe composition of the line the assembler-slide 5 is ladvanced or movedtoward the left in Fig. 1 whereby the pointer 11 through Ythevintermediate parts-will be moved in unison step by step with. saidassembler-slide, so that the operator by glancing at the'indicator willbe instantlv informed of the progress ofthe line. It will beclear thatby the construction described I place within the field of the' operatorsvision, means by which he is fat It willbe clear that as the amazes ionce informed of the position of the assembler-slide and naturally ofthe condition of the liner By field of vision I mean that which includesthe keyboard and the copy. The Mergenthaler machine is adjusted in mostdaily newspaper offices to handle six or seven lines a minute,V but thecompositors who have the ability, of operating the ma'-l chine at thisspeed are rare. With' this type of machine so far as I am aware, thereis -no way of ascertammg the progress of the line except by looking atthe assemblerslide.v To do this especially while workmg on poor'copycauses the operator frequently to lose his place and brea i up thepswingor 4rhythm. "On the other hand to over set the line is torun in two orthree letters of workand Apossibly the piling up of a lot of matrices`behind the star wheel, and beforethese have been cleared away the timere quired to set a half a dozen lines hasvbeen lost iWhcn lines arebeing set at the rate of one inten seconds, the smallest thingsareimportant. By the use of my device I can materially increase theoperators output in that I avoid and eliminate the disadvantages pointedout, whileat the same time I make the work easier and relieve to a greatextent the eye strain caused bythe constant shift- Vingfof the eye.

` It will be evident fromthe foregoing description taken in connectionwith the annexed drawings that my line indicating mechanism involves anindicating element located and movable in a straight path between thespace vbar and the copy holder and that said indicating element travelsin parallelism with said space-bar.

l/Vhat I claim is:

The combination with the space-bar, the

copycarrier, and the assemblenslide of a typographical-machine, of lineindicating 'mechanism having an indica-ting element located and movablein a straight path between the space-bar andy the copy-carrier fandadapted to travel in parallelism with `said space-barv and meansoperati-ve with the V assembler-slide for actuating said indicat ingelement on the `motion of the assembler- Intestimony`-whereof I afiix mysigna-

